As promised last week here is a report on the IAMERS meeting in Florence.

I have strong feelings about the way the market is evolving in Europe and I will share those feelings here.

I know people think of IAMERS' meetings as networking opportunities. That's true, they are, but they also have educational sessions. And in the case of Florence, this meeting acted as a catalyst to bring together in one place a large number of European dealers, service firms and parts vendors.

Never before have I seen so many European independents in the same room at the same time. By no means were all of the European players present but the group was impressive.

Those of us who live in the USA take independent sales and service for granted. It is part of our culture and dovetails with our free markets and entrepreneurial freedoms. But in Europe 10 years ago -- and even five years ago -- independent sales and service was the exception, not the rule.

Europe is a harder place to do business than the U.S. Things cost more and each country has its own rules and regulations. Many Americas think the European Union or the Euro Zone make it easier to trade amongst member countries. But there are still languages and cultural differences that make it harder (but not impossible) to sell across borders. Further, only recently, as a result of the world financial crisis, have end-users cared about saving money or maximizing the value they realize on surplus assets.

All that has changed now and there is new enthusiasm in Europe for independent sales and service.

Many European business people consider those who live and work in the USA to be slightly comic figures -- cowboys and cowgirls who succeed, in spite of ourselves, because of our business-friendly free market. But that view is changing. Increasingly, European dealers are willing to learn about what we do in the U.S. so that they can adapt our strategies to their unique market.

The IAMERS meeting gave both American and Europeans the chance to exchange ideas and learn from each other. Indeed, many of the American cowboys and cowgirls present at the meeting also believe that the market in Europe is changing -- and they want to be part of it.

To her credit, Diana Upton, the president of IAMERS, has continued to follow an agenda of promoting IAMERS in Europe and fostering dialog between the players on both side of the Atlantic. She puts together a great meeting and people have fun while they network. The sessions are interesting, the food is good and there are even events for the spouses.

Diana followed her instincts and the meeting in Florence was an endorsement of her actions.

If you're not fully convinced, let's focus on some stats. At DOTmed we believe with more than 185,000 registered users that 85 to 90 percent of all independent players around the world have registered on our site. Our analysis of our user stats shows a clear growth in Western AND Eastern Europe over the last five years -- and more dramatically over the last two years.

The Internet makes anything possible. European hospitals can sell around the world or to one of the fast-growing local European firms. European independent service firms can buy parts across borders or across the ocean. Further, what was looked down on five years ago will, I predict, become the norm.

At DOTmed we are in the process of developing our European strategy. I will share it with you soon. For now, I suggest it is time to take a hard look at how you can capitalize on this new trend of an independent-friendly Europe.

As always, I welcome your feedback.